Mark Roberts

These are 10 of my favourite #UrbanEconomics & #SpatialEconomics articles published in academic journals in 2025, continuing with a tradition started in 2018 (order is alphabetical by first author, no ranking implied):

Delighted with today’s #parkrun result at Hagley Park, Christchurch, NZ. 20 min 50 sec in 48th place out of 666 (VM50-54: 2nd). 1st time below 21 min for 5 k since restarting running & above 70 % for age grading 😊 Flat course with nice running conditions today + great volunteers #running #5k

And that’s it in terms of #running for 2025 for me! 1st full yr of tracking data - 174 training sessions, 1,470 km in total; 1 half-marathon, one 10 k race, & five 5 k. Not so much for many but my biggest year of running since restarting & probably 1996. Maybe next year I’ll start using Strava! 🙂🏃

Loving #running in New Zealand’s pleasant summer climate. Almost 13 km today - 6.3 km easy followed by lovely Queenstown #parkrun & extra 1.3 km to finish off

Nice 10 K Christmas Day run along some of Queenstown’s beautiful trails b4 the kids wake-up! Now for the festivities. Happy Christmas everyone! #running 🏃🎄🎁

Was fun participating in today’s Puarenga #parkrun in Rotorua, New Zealand. Finished 21st out of 282 overall (16th based on age grading; 2nd in VM50-54) in 21 min 50 sec. Interesting twisting course, inc thru some geothermal landscape! #running

Was great to take part in today’s Bishan Park #parkrun while visiting Singapore! Quite pleased as well with my 8th place overall finish in 21 min 40 sec. Thanks to the organisers & volunteers! #parkrun #running 🏃👟🎽

I’ll be in Singapore next week and I’m tempted to do a #parkrun there (especially because there’s no #parkrun in Hanoi, where I live), although I have some slight doubts because I’m also in middle of half-marathon training. Any advice from anyone who has done a #parkrun in Singapore?

Hope you recover soon, Daniel. I came down with shingles last year while on a work trip & then had to catch an international flight home - was likewise awesome

Eased back a bit on my #running last week to allow for some recovery as I continue to try to v slowly build 2 half-marathon fitness & felt so much better for it today!

www.bbc.com/sport/athlet...

Maybe it’s because I’m from the north of England, but I *love* #running in the rain (which doesn’t happen often in Hanoi!). 1st real tempo run as continue to build back training

Baby steps! 1st time running 5 km again as v gradually step-up training after suffering a calf strain early Feb. that feels like it has/is taking forever to recover from. Still some residual /referred pain, but feeling cautiously optimistic!Plus lovely running weather in DC today! #running

I’m definitely v far from being a “best runner”, but I do have a mental strategy of “congratulating” myself when I reach a put of fatigue in a race (normally around the three quarters mark), which I find helps me to relax

Jacob Kiplimo breaks half marathon world record by 48 seconds Uganda's Jacob Kiplimo shatters the half marathon record at a World Athletics event in Barcelona.

Stunning!
www.bbc.com/sport/athlet...

Thank you! And, yes, I can already see that!

Yay! Just completed my 1st ever #parkrun while visiting Washington DC! Now I know what I’ve been missing out on! Great to see the enthusiasm among runners of all ages. Also, my fastest 5 k (21 min
29 s) since resuming running 🙂 #running 🏃

I finally found the (in)famous zone 2 😂

CHÚC MỪNG NĂM MỚI!

After 2 weeks of treadmill running due to dreadful air quality in Hanoi, was great to finally run outside again! My longest run (15.1 km) since starting running again around 2 years ago! Feeling v happy! 🙂🏃 #running #econ5k

Very much enjoyed & highly recommend this super-insightful “Brief History of Urban & Spatial Economics” over the last 50 years since the founding of the JUE by Henderson & Thisse, which also includes welcome discussion of developing country issues #urbanecon #econsky

2025 ECON5k AWARDS CEREMONY YouTube video by Daniel Bergstresser

!! 2025 ECON5k AWARDS !!

youtu.be/0miW6gUyek4

Thanks for the shout-out @econ5k.bsky.social and for organising this! Great also to see the achievements of others! There are some v fast economists out there!

Last day to submit to the @worldbankgroup.bsky.social #Infra4dev conference in Guangzhou!

Last #run of yr & in scorching Trinidad b4 returning home 2 Hanoi. Thankful to have completed 1st full year of almost injury free running, with 8 races, in around 25 years :-) Hope to continue to grad build training, break 21 min for 5 k, 45 min for 10 k & maybe run a half marathon in 2025 #running

Hi everyone, I wanted to draw attention to the below expressions of interest to attend the World Bank’s annual Land Conference, which will take place in Washington DC, May 5th-8th 2025. Deadline is 15th Jan.

web.cvent.com/event/d800b9...

Updating My Priors on Self-Driving Cars The tech is really good, which should cause urbanists to update their priors about direct and second-order effects.

New newsletter post: open.substack.com/pub/gregshil...

Who migrates from developing countries? New data from 99 developing countries challenges conventional wisdom in development policy. People whose labour has higher returns at home are more likely to migrate.

Immensely helpful summary of an illuminating paper!
voxdev.org/topic/migrat...

e) @thetahat.bsky.social, @ecmaeditors.bsky.social. Field experiment with GPS data in Bangalore indicates commuters have moderate schedule inflexibility and high value of time, suggesting limited benefits from peak-spreading congestion charges in developing country megacities t.ly/_A6L7

These are 10 of my favourite #UrbanEconomics articles published in academic journals in 2024 (continues a tradition started in 2018, order is alphabetical by first author, no ranking implied):